Through the Eyes of an Innocent Bystander
by Riannamation
Summary: You’ve seen the Mary-Sues, the Gary-Stus, the Out-of-Characters, the Love Triangles, Now see what the average Hogwarts student thinks of all this. (takes place during third year.)
1. On the Hogwarts Express: The Introductio...

bcenterThrough the Eyes of an Innocent Bystandercenterb  
  
bAuthorb: Legowen  
  
bRating:b PG  
  
bCategory:b Drama/Humor/Romance/Sarcasm  
  
bDisclaimer:b Everything (almost) belongs to JK Rowling.  
  
bSummary:b You've seen the Mary-Sues, the Gary-Stus, the Out-of- Characters, the Love Triangles, Now see what the average Hogwarts student thinks of all this. (takes place during third year.)  
  
The train. Giant clouds of smoke billowed from the engine, and the red beast roared in impatience as the last people boarded it, seconds before it would leave. When everyone was either on board or waving, the great wheels slowly turned, grinding against the iron track. Gradually, it picked up speed, and the train departed from Platform 9 and ¾, slowly becoming smaller and smaller to those waving goodbye to the passengers.  
  
Rily was one of the last people on board, her bags haphazardly thrown in the storage compartments as she was rushed on board, holding nothing but her small bag of robes and other small things she may need on the train ride, and her little gray cat, Slinky. He mewled at her from his place on the floor (he refused to be carried), staring up at her with overlarge orange eyes, making him look rather odd and not at all cute and cat-like. "C'mon Slink," Rily called to him in a chirruping voice, "let's go find Mae."  
  
She then proceeded to walk down the row of compartments, occasionally glancing inside to see if she could find her friend and fellow Ravenclaw, Mae. Usually the going was easy, until she came to a compartment about halfway down that was fairly overflowing with people, the majority of them tall beautiful girls with strange hair and eyes, looking as if they had had some contact with radiation as children. Many of them jumped nervously when someone else touched them, immediately dissolving into tears, a few threatened to beat the rest up, and most generally looked as if they had had a horrible past, but had decided to put on a brave face and manage on their own.  
  
Rily drew closer to the door of the compartment, close enough to catch a few words from the girl (this one with swirling silver-green eyes and hair that looked as if it had gotten into a bad tie-dying accident) closest to the door.  
  
"I hope you don't mind my sitting here," she told the occupants, "but all the other compartments are full." "Not at all," came the reply from the people within. Rily identified three of them; Harry, Hermione, and Ron; but there were about forty she did not recognize, most of them sounded female, and bell- or nightingale-like.  
  
"Thank you," The girl said, "I'm MoonRose Riddle, a new student from America." She managed to look rather endearing as she said this, tossing her hair lightly over her shoulder, which hit the girl behind her in the face. The girl who had been hit then screamed, and fainted, and a small wave of very powerful, but uncontrolled, magic was released as she hit the floor.  
  
This then set half of the line into hysterics, many crying and babbling incoherently as they pushed themselves against a wall.  
  
Rily rolled her eyes.  
  
"Americans," she sighed to Slinky, who blinked agreeably, "They get worse every year."  
  
With that she pushed past the last of the girls, and was once again in open space. The halls were relatively clear now, except for a few wanderers, and a tall platinum-haired boy with a thin face and his two friends.  
  
The blonde was leaning nonchalantly against a wall, looking at his watch. He saluted Rily as she walked past.  
  
"Greetings, Naghn," he said as she passed, "Malfoy," she acknowledged, "how goes it?" Draco smiled his cruel-but-heart-rending smile.  
  
"Just about time to saunter past Potter's group again in an attempt to be nasty and be cursed at by the New Girls, actually." Rily snorted.  
  
"Best of luck," to which he nodded, and, true to his word, walked off in the direction of the swarm of beautiful girls, followed closely by the two rather large boys that stood near him.  
  
Slinky still trotting at her heels, Rily pressed on, still casting an occasional look into the (mostly empty) compartments. At last she came to one that was occupied by a stocky blonde girl with cheery blue eyes.  
  
"Rily!" Mae exclaimed at the sight of her friend, "It took you long enough! You have trouble getting past the New Girls, too?" Rily nodded, plopping down into an adjacent seat. "They get worse every year," she agreed, pushing rather tangled brown-black hair behind her ear. Mae sighed heavily.  
  
"I feel sort of sorry for Harry, he never really asked for this, did he?" Rily slowly shook her head, but waited until Slinky had settled on her lap before answering.  
  
"I guess not, and you're right, falling madly and completely in love with forty different girls, your best friend, and your other best friend, your worst enemy, your teachers, your best friend's sister, brothers, and your long-lost cousins all at the same time has to be a bit hard."  
  
Mae smiled. "At least we're never mentioned in the books," she giggled, "or he may have fallen in love with us as well!" Rily snickered at this.  
  
"Well," her eyes glinted with laughter, "You are certainly right about that. I mean, falling in love with Pansy? And He-Who-Is-Named-By-Only- Idiots? If you fall for them, I guess no one is out of the question." Mae's eyes widened in shock.  
  
"He fell in love with i He-Who-Is-Surprisingly-Weak-For-a-Dark- Lord?i"  
  
Rily nodded solemnly. "More than once."  
  
At this the two girls dissolved into giggles. 


	2. The Sorting: Who ISN'T in Griffindor?

center Chapter two center  
  
"Best get in your robes, dears," the plump witch who manned the snack cart cackled at Rily and Mae, "We should arrive in just a few minutes."  
  
Taking her advice, the two friends locked their compartment door and slipped on their robes with the Ravenclaw crest. It was the work of a second, and when they were done, the door was unlocked once again. They picked up their bags and headed to the front of the train so that they would be the first off. Slinky trotted behind the two girls, and Mae's frog Leaper lay in the blonde's pocket.  
  
On their way out they passed the many New Girls who had been unable to fit inside Harry's compartment, and most of them were sulking. Rily noticed that quite a few of them had neglected to change into the customary robes, instead changing into ridiculously beautiful gowns that did not fit in at all. There were also quite a bit of strange animals; wolves in shades of blue, silver, jet black, white, and even one in a stunning mauve. There were also many white owls, a few black, some foxes, two or three phoenixes, many unicorns, at least one dragon (and many singed robes as a result), and;  
  
"A green CHICKEN?" Rily exclaimed in disbelief. Mae, following her gaze, saw the unusual pet, and shrugged.  
  
"There's a weird one in every batch," she said simply, not slowing her progress to the door. Rily followed her, but her eyes watched over her shoulder, still wide in amazement as the green chicken scratched at the floor, and, when no worms were produced, gave an angry squawk. Immediately there was a small puff of smoke, which soon dissipated to reveal a very large wart on the offending floor.  
  
"Now, Smitty," Rily heard a voice reprimand, and a girl climbed over the dragon (nearly getting eaten) to pick up the strange magic chicken. She had long red-and-black vertically striped hair, and her eyes were an equally strange pairing of indigo and beige.  
  
"Like I said," Mae commented from in front of Rily, "A weird one in every batch." Rily could not help but agree.  
  
The train finally slowed to a stop, and the doors sprung open, letting Mae and Rily off first. As they made their way to the horseless carriages with a friendly Hufflepuff and a tolerable Slytherin in tow, they heard a commotion behind them.  
  
"It would seem," the Slytherin (who was called Sara) observed coldly, "That our new girls are having a bit of trouble getting their pets out of the train."  
  
Looking back, Rily and Mae saw that this was indeed true. The dragon had become stuck in the doorway, and his already distraught owner being reprimanded by Professor McGonagall.  
  
"The letter CLEARLY stated, Ms. Riddle, that the allowed pets were owls, toads, or cats, with some small exceptions, such as rats or frogs. NO WHERE did it mention dragons. But come in anyway, five points to Griffindor for the bravery to handle a dragon."  
  
Sara, half in and half out of the chosen carriage, rolled her eyes. "And people actually WONDER why we hate Griffindor." She remarked sarcastically, and the Hufflepuff (whose name was Chrissy) nodded vigorously.  
  
"It's bad enough that they seem to break ALL of the rules and get away with it (here she sniffed disapprovingly) but to be REWARDED for it? As Harry is in the next book when he steals the championship from Cedric? And then, as if that is not bad enough, WINS the thing, when Cedric dies? It is very unfair."  
  
"Quite," agreed Sara, "and the New Girls don't help the matter with all of their fawning over him."  
  
"Oh, ease up a bit girls," Mae interjected, "It's not as if he can help it. He IS the hero, after all." Sara considered this for a moment, and then grudgingly nodded.  
  
"I suppose so. That is why everyone loves him so much for no apparent reason. Except for us Slytherins, of course," She grinned, "We get to be the antagonists." Chrissy giggled agreeably as she ducked into the carriage after Sara, nearly tripping as Slinky, tired of waiting, jumped in under her.  
  
Mae went in next, followed closely by Rily, who joined the conversation again.  
  
"Well," She said thoughtfully, "We don't love him for no reason, really. I mean, there was that bit about him defeating some Dark Lord or another. You know, the one who should do something stupendously nasty soon, and be stopped by whichever group of New Girls are his daughters?"  
  
"Yes, but honestly," Sara said sourly, "What is so great about that? They always come back, and more often than not stronger than they ever were. I say leave them be, and keep them as weak as possible." No one had time to comment on this, as everyone had boarded (although there was quite a delay to unpack all of the New Girl's cases and cases of beautiful clothing), and the carriages were off.  
  
A short (and very bumpy) ride later, all of the non-first-years stood in the main hall, and seated at the appropriate tables. The New Girls from the year before (all that had not died tragically to be deeply mourned, that is) sat at Griffindor (and two or three at Slytherin), and the Newest New Girls waited patiently in the shadows for the actual first-years to be sorted.  
  
It was a matter of minutes before the First-Years filed nervously in, and the old hat brought out, and the Special Sorting Song Sung, ("Say THAT three times fast," Mae whispered) and the first years were sorted. Rily and Mae clapped politely for all of them, clapping particularly hard whenever a boy was sorted into Ravenclaw. Before long that was over, and Dumbledore stood up.  
  
"Students," he announced, "as you may have already heard, we have fifty-three new students this year, fifty-two of them girls. All are third years. They have all, with the exception of one young lady from Guam, ("weird one in every batch," Mae repeated for the third time), come from America. You will find that they all have fascinating American accents, and mysterious pasts. ("Tell it like it is!" Rily heard Sara yell approvingly). So let the sorting of them begin."  
  
Clearing her throat, Mrs. McGonagall stepped up beside the stool and unrolled the parchment with the list of names. The Sorting hat looked rather annoyed.  
  
"Ahenys, Sairer!"  
  
A stunningly attractive young girl with a long silken sheet of chocolate hair and silver eyes glided gracefully up to the stool, and placed the hat delicately on her head.  
  
"GRIFFINDOR!" the hat screamed after a minute, and the girl glided off happily amid the cheers.  
  
"GoldMoon, Celestia!"  
  
An angelically beautiful young girl with glowing golden hair and deep blue eyes strode loftily up to the stool, and placed the hat lightly on her head.  
  
"GRIFFINDOR!" the hat screamed after a few seconds, and the girl strode off happily amid the cheers.  
  
"Hallow, Faith!"  
  
A lovely young girl with long fiery red hair and warm brown eyes skipped up to the stool, and placed it gently on her head.  
  
"GRIFFINDOR!" the hat screamed almost as soon as she had placed it on her head, and the girl skipped off happily amid the cheers.  
  
"King, Hunter!"  
  
An attractive young man with short, curly, highlighted hair and flirty golden eyes sauntered up to the hat.  
  
"GRIFFINDOR!" the hat screamed as soon as he touched it, not even waiting to be placed on his head, and the boy sauntered off happily amid the squeals.  
  
"Luna, Lily!"  
  
A delicately beautiful young girl with silver-blonde hair and steely grey eyes crept up to the stool.  
  
"GRIFFINDOR!" the hat screamed before she had gotten within five feet of the stool, and the girl crept quietly off amid the cheers.  
  
"Nightingale, Sapphire!"  
  
A coldly beautiful girl with crystalline blue eyes and black hair with silver streaks stepped in the general direction of the stool.  
  
"GRIFFINDOR!" the hat screamed immediately after the name had been called, and the girl walked silently off amid the cheers.  
  
"Riddle, (forty-five girls stood up) Hope! (ten sat down)"  
  
Thirty-five girls headed for the stool in a wave of silver, chocolate, ebony, golden, and flame-red hair, mosaic of eyes flashing.  
  
"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" the hat screamed, "I REFUSE to do this YEAR AFTER YEAR! I am sick of sorting these girls, all of which have mysterious pasts and secrets and nothing but being with Harry Potter on their minds! They already KNOW what house they will be put into! I've had enough of it! All of you, just go into Griffindor!"  
  
The girls headed for the Griffindor tables amid the cheers.  
  
"You too," the hat growled menacingly at the ten other Riddles, (One of which was the rainbow-haired MoonRose) and they did. Only two girls were left.  
  
McGonagall, who had been in a sort of shocked silence for the past few seconds, cleared her throat and looked back at the list.  
  
"Lets see," she said, looking at the first girl, "You would be."  
  
"Serpenta, Ebony!"  
  
An exotically beautiful girl with long obsidian hair and slanted green eyes slid up to the stool and put the hat silently on her head.  
  
"SLYTHERIN!" the hat screamed, and the girl slid off amid the hisses and cheers (the latter from the Slytherin table). There was only one left; the strange girl Rily recognized as the owner of the green chicken.  
  
"Young, Jennifer!"  
  
The tie-dye girl stepped up to the stool, and jammed the hat on her head.  
  
"RAVENCLAW!" the hat roared in disbelief, and the girl walked off amid the confused silence.  
  
Rily was stunned, but she did not have much time to remain so. Before she knew it, the magic words had been said, and the feast began but not after Mae could poke her in the side.  
  
"I told you," she whispered to Rily, "There's a weird one..."  
  
"'In every batch'; I KNOW!" Rily whispered back, and began to eat. 


	3. The Ravenclaw Common Room: Previously No...

.............Chapter 3...............  
  
Immediately after the feast, the students were led off to their houses by last year's Mary Sues, which were now prefects. Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, however, had regular prefects, as no Mary Sues would be caught dead (or worse, ugly) in their house.  
  
Rily yawned. She could dimly hear her house prefects calling for them to follow, and managed to keep up with the dim sound. Pictures moved blurrily at the corners of her eyes, and she thought she remembered peeves throwing something at a few of them, but she was too tired to be sure.  
  
Eventually they came to the Ravenclaw entrance; a bookshelf packed to overflowing with books that had been abandoned in previous years. (There were many copies of "Magical Me" as well as numerous other books by Gilderoy Lockhart, to the Ravenclaws' great shame). After speaking the password ("Fuzzy Socks"), the bookshelf slid sideways, revealing a sturdy brick wall.  
  
"Well," commented the Prefect, "It seems no one has ever written what the common room looks like." This was followed by a sigh from everyone (almost in unison).  
  
"No time like the present," Mae quipped, and the bricks disappeared within the next few sentences.  
  
The Ravenclaw common room was a splendor of blue tapestries, with many black ravens perched on whatever surface was available, most of them quoting some muggle author or another who seemed to like the phrase "and quoth the raven; 'Nevermore'". There were many, many charts and maps and statistics and almanacs and atlas' and dictionaries and encyclopedias and spellbooks and normal books and "I heart learning" buttons everywhere. There were even books that were not even really books, just empty covers placed in bookshelves to make the room look more like the home of brainiacs, and they also doubled as MORE "I heart learning" buttons. (Ravenclaws are very fond of buttons).  
  
"How lovely!" someone exclaimed from the back. Many older Ravenclaws nodded in agreement, as they had never actually seen it either, it having not existed before this story. The Ravenclaws usually slept in the library. In fact, they were not actually all that bright to begin with, and endless hours of being stuck in the library when there were no Ravenclaws in the plot was the only way they lived up to their name of intelligence.  
  
Needless to say, the Hufflepuffs spent most of their time in the halls, spreading the same nasty rumors to each other until everyone was sick of them. They were not actually very loyal, as they were supposed to be according to the house specifications, but the Sorting Hat had figured that calling them "Dim and Backstabbing" would not really contribute to moral all that much.  
  
Anyway, back to the common room.  
  
They all filed in, and many proceeded to the bedrooms, where they found all of their things that had simply disappeared in previous years, having no common room to be placed in.  
  
Rily exclaiming over all the things she found that had gone missing in her first years, when out of the corner of her eye she saw a flash of red and black and indigo and beige. It was the Weird One. Whats-her-name. Rily couldn't remember.  
  
"Hello," the odd Mary Sue greeted in a perfectly normal British accent, "I'm from Guam." This was met with many confused looks.  
  
"Aren't you supposed to have an accent or something?" a short brunette asked from behind her, and the girl turned.  
  
"Ah, yes," she confirmed, "But the author of this story has absolutely no idea what a Guam accent sounds like, so I've just picked up a British one from my Muggle parents who adopted me after I had been found in the woods after running away from my evil step-mother in Guam. She wanted to kill me. I'm supposed to fulfill some prophecy or another that will bring about her downfall or something."  
  
"Oh." Commented Rily, and promptly went to sleep. 


	4. Breakfast: What the Heck?

Chapter 4. Same Disclaimer. Same Name. Same Author. Same Plot. Same Chicken.  
  
The next morning, Rily woke up with the rising sun, though not entirely on her own. Two bunks over, a certain green chicken was screaming as if he was being strangled. It was actually quite possible he WAS being strangled, with the noise it was emitting. Stuffing her head back under her pillow, Rily gave a muffled shout. "Will you shut that thing UP?!" She screamed in the general direction of Jennifer's bed, and though the thick pillow she heard a rather muffled apology, which was followed shortly by a dull thud, one last scream from Smitty, and finally, blissful silence. But not for long.  
  
"Up! UP!! GET UP!!" Rily's agitated alarm clock screeched from a few feet to the left of Rily's ear. Up until a few moments ago it had been looking as if its job could be skipped for a morning, but alas, its mistress had to go back to sleep.  
  
"I SAID UP!!" it boomed with its magically enhanced voice, and the entire bedroom shot out of their beds, stumbling blindly about in search of their wits.  
  
"That's better." The clock said in a prim little voice, and went back into its state of lifelessness.  
  
Six switching staircases, five secret passages, four fake doors, three wandering sinkholes, two walls which was really hallways (just pretending), and a partridge in a pear tree later, the Ravenclaw girls were in the great hall eating breakfast.  
  
Rily, naturally, sat next to Mae, at their customary spot at the end of the table, so that they were the least likely to be beset by Mary-Sues. To their great surprise, Jennifer Young sat with them. At their weird glances, she shrugged. "No clue who I'm to fall in love with an exchange loving glances with at breakfast yet, so I just thought I'd get a little more plot action and sit near the people who seem to be the main characters in this particular fic." She explained, and Mae nodded, impressed with Jennifer's apparent lack of Mary-Sue normalcy. "You sure you're a Mary-Sue?" Rily inquired, giving Smitty (who had accompanied Jennifer to breakfast, and was at the moment trying to eat the tablecloth. He was, however, failing miserably, as it kept jumping out of his way, upsetting cups and dishes) an odd look.  
  
"Oh, yes." Jennifer assured her, rescuing the tablecloth by nonchalantly tossing Smitty out of a nearby window. "I've the horrific past and odd beauty to prove it. I'm just a bit weird. There's one in every bunch." Mae nearly choked on her bacon. "That's what I've been TELLING you!" she exclaimed to Rily after a severe coughing fit. "One in every bunch! Remember Linda from last year? She was rude, and stupid to boot! And then Emily, the year before, with the acne?" She seemed quite frantic now, going so far as to reaching across the table and nearly throttling poor Annette, screaming; "One! Just one every year! Why do the authors DO this to us? Why? Why?" Needless, to say, this whole thing was unnoticed by everyone else, who were too busy drooling over Hope. All thirty-five of them.  
  
"Er.Mae." Rily called to her friend, who was now in hysterics, "No need to get so upset, I mean, really, it's not like they're going to ruin your life or anything." Mae looked up at Rily, tears streaming down her face. "But how do you KNOW, Rily; how do you KNOW the writers won't feed me to werewolves or something? I couldn't bear it, I just couldn't!" Jennifer sighed understandingly.  
  
"You won't, you belong to Legowen, no one else can use you without her permission, and she isn't going to get so far with this story as to kill you." At this Mae looked quite relieved, and released her deathgrip on Annette's shirt.  
  
Glad that her friend was alright, Rily looked up, Smiling. Her smile faded a bit as she realized that the entire school had totally ignored her friend's breakdown, and she sighed. Why did the Mary-Sues have to be so popular? Shaking her head slightly, she scanned the room one last time, looking for any sign of acknowledgement that she existed. Excitement filled her as she saw one head turned her way, but the excitement faded as she saw who it was. It was Draco, but he noticed everything, so that wasn't really special. She gave him a nod of thanks anyway, glad even one original character, even if he was one that noticed everything, from what Harry was saying to what flies hovered over whose food plate, noticed her.  
  
But her nod was never completed, because just then there were many screams, and a flash of brown-gray fur wove in and out of students.  
  
It was a werewolf.  
  
And it was headed straight for Mae. 


	5. Classes: Or Lack Thereof

Not mine. What is mine is not yours. What is yours is the right to review. Please use it. Muaha. Thank you muchly for all the beatimous reviews. Glad y'all like my ficcy ^_^.  
  
Chapter five:  
  
The werewolf drew closer to Mae, yellowed fangs dripping froth in anticipation of the kill. It's eyes, alight with dark glee, were fixed on her. Nothing would stop it.  
  
"HEY!" objected Rily, "It's broad daylight! There are no werewolves in broad daylight! It's not even a full moon tonight!"  
  
Suddenly, the werewolf disappeared, and from somewhere above her keyboard, Legowen cursed. Mae looked about to explode.  
  
"You BITCH!" she screamed to the author, "You tried to KILL me! How DARE YOU!? That is IT! I am out of this chapter! I'm going to the library. I mean, common room." And she did.  
  
"Well, that was odd." Jennifer commented, all the while trying to shove Smitty back out of the window through which he was valiantly trying to return. After a few moments, Jennifer gave up, and with a triumphant cluck, Smitty began to try to swallow the water pitcher.  
  
"What does he eat?" Rily asked, more to herself than Jennifer, but the odd- colored girl answered anyway.  
  
"Dead stories," She said matter-of-factly, "There are lots of them around here, he just has some trouble finding them." Rily did not bother commenting.  
  
~*~*~*~*  
  
After the mail arrived, it was time to go to classes.  
  
"What do we have first?" Rily asked Jennifer, who was mulling over the schedule. She suddenly looked rather surprised.  
  
"Nothing actually. Nothing, all day. It's just the Griffindors who have all the classes. It says here; 'go to the library. Do not come out until appointed time, and then wander around the halls as if you are going somewhere..' Oh! Wait, we do have a class. Third year charms with the Griffindors. How very odd." Rily blinked in disbelief.  
  
"Let me see that," she beckoned to Jennifer, who handed her the slip of paper. It was true. They were to stay in the library until passing period, and then just sort of wander around as if they were going to class, to create a more "believable" look, until just after noon when they were to have Charms.  
  
"Wonderful!" said Rily, "Now I can learn the spells I WANT to, instead of just what the teachers want to teach us. Very good. Let's go." So, gathering their books, they left for the library.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
The day was fairly uneventful, until the time came to go to charms. The Ravenclaws arrived before everyone and quickly opened their books to the page indicated by the magic chalkboard, which was currently playing tic-tac- toe with itself in an unused corner. Professor Flitwick appeared just as the Griffindors did, and promptly began class.  
  
"Alright, everyone!" he squeaked from his stack of books, "I assume everyone has read the pages on the board?" he pointed to the indicated numbers (page 1-1 1/2), and everyone nodded.  
  
He smiled. "Well, then. Can someone tell me the proper wand movement for the flattening charm?" immediately Hermione raised her hand.  
  
"Excuse me, professor," said a shy voice from the back. "I believe it is a figure-eight movement?" the entire class turned to look at one of the Mary-Sues, a beautiful blond with a musical voice. She was immeadiately asked out by several Ravenclaws, but she declined, staring wistfully at Harry.  
  
"Correct!" squealed Flitwick "3 million points to Griffindor!" the blond fluttered her eyelashes modestly.  
  
"Know-it-all" someone hissed at Hermione, who suddenly burst into tears and ran out of the room. Hope (all thirty-five) stood up.  
  
"Oh!" they said, looking concerned, "how could you people?" and all proceeded to rush out of the room after her.  
  
The room looked suddenly empty as Harry and Ron rushed out after them, and then the other Mary-Sues after them. And lastly Hunter, simply because.  
  
"Er..well." Flitwick began lamely. "I suppose we should read or something?" 


	6. The Hallway: Unconsciousness and Raspber...

Hey all, sorry it took so long to update, because I KNOW you all are hanging on my every word ~_^. Hehe. Well, everything belongs to JK Rowling some way or another, you know. Not mine. As if you care. Aaaaaanyway, let's see..where were we.  
  
Ah, yes.  
  
CHAPTER 6.....  
  
Charms ended unusually early, and rather abruptly as well, as Prof. Flitwick rushed out of the door shortly after his socks ('Madame Remembra's Magical Alarm Socks- Never be late again!') exploded.  
  
"What was that he was yelling?" a startled-looking Ravenclaw boy asked no one in particular.  
  
"I believe it was something about 'being late for his date with Madame 'Hoochy-Poo.'" Mae replied in a rather bored tone, not even looking up from the book she held three inches from her nose. "He really should consider scheduling them for some other time besides those when he is in the middle of class." Her tone was rather disgusted, though it probably mirrored every other Ravenclaws feelings about the pair. They had held a grudge against that * particular * pairing ever since they had found them snogging in the library. That is not the type of thing you tend to forget, rather, it is burned into your mind so that every time you close your eyes you see it.  
  
"Like it's haunting you," Finished a rather pretty Ravenclaw girl. Rily sighed. "It wouldn't have been so bad if they hadn't squashed our private end-of-the-year banquet in the process." She shuddered, "All that sugar, ruined."  
  
After the statement there was a moment of silence from all that were present, probably in honor of the lost sugar, which was broken by a sharp snap as Mae flipped her book closed.  
  
"Well," she said, "No point in waiting around here. We had better go to the libra- er.common room." She paused for a moment, and then as an afterthought added; "Before any * werewolves * show up." At this she threw a disgruntled glare in the direction of the author, who did her very best to look innocent.  
  
Nodding in agreement, the rest of the Ravenclaws followed her out of the door. Rily followed them after a few minutes pause, as watching the Alarm Socks put themselves back together were too interesting an opportunity to pass up.  
  
The socks were almost done (they were now folding themselves on the desk) when Rily heard Mae call from somewhere in the castle. She was torn for a moment in indecision, but then, with a louder shriek from her friend, she reluctantly made for the door, walking backwards so that she might watch as much as the folding as possible.  
  
This wasn't as wise as it seemed. She was in the process of turning around when she ran into something rather hard and cold. Her book bag snagged on the object, which proceeded to fall over, but she could not get out of the way, her bag holding her fast. Instead she twisted, missing being crushed by whatever-it-was, and might have very well gotten away alright had she not tripped over the pedestal the thing had been standing on. She fell sideways, and had almost reached the floor when her bag (still caught on what turned out to be a suit of armor) pulled tight against her shoulder, jerking her in the other direction. There was a flash of white as Rily's head collided with something very solid, and then black as her senses deserted her.  
  
"Damn it." She said, and then she fainted.  
  
  
  
Something was poking her. It was rather sharp, too. And it hurt. Stop it. Still, it persisted. I said stop it. Rily's mind swam. Why wouldn't it stop? She had already told it to twice! Her eyes refused to open. As if they were stuck. Her legs were moving either. Was she upside down? It felt like it, but she couldn't tell. No.she wasn't. The floor was. Silly thing. More poking. Stop it. She wasn't so demanding as before. Rily was getting tired. If only the floor would right itself.  
  
Wait a second. Floors couldn't be upside down. They didn't grow that way. She was on the ceiling, then. No.that wasn't right either.  
  
Poke, poke, poke. Stop it. Poke. Poke, poke. I said stop it. Rily groaned in frustration, and then jumped a bit when she heard it. What was that noise? Her eyes slowly opened as she sought the source of the sound. Everything was blurry. She felt sick.  
  
"Are you dead?" Something asked in a rather doubtful voice. Rily saw movement in the corner of her eye. The floor seemed to have righted itself. Or the ceiling. She wasn't sure.  
  
"No." Came the answer. Rily jumped again. * She * had made that noise! She could talk! For one brief moment she was excited, until she remembered that this wasn't particularily unusual.  
  
"Oh." Came the reply from somewhere to her reft. No, light. No, left. Where was that? She groaned. Things were starting to become clearer. She could smell tacos. No, not tacos. It was raspberry. She smelled like raspberries. Was she lumpy and purple, too? Slowly, she gazed in the general direction of her feet. No. No, she wasn't. She just smelled like it. How odd.  
  
"Better get up, then." Came the voice again.  
  
"Raspberry?" Rily questioned groggily. It made perfect sense to her, but the thing didn't seem to understand. She suddenly saw something long and sharp, like a brown letter opener. It was going to open her! Panic flooded her body, and her finger twitched in a desperate attempt to get away.  
  
"Sensus Restorem!" The something shouted, and it felt as though a giant windowsill of clear-headed-ness had slammed down on the fingers of grogginess that held her in their clutches. Or something like that. She never had been very good at metaphors.  
  
Quite suddenly, she could see, and just as quickly wished she couldn't. Draco Malfoy stood above her, with a very amused expression on his face.  
  
"Damn it." Rily groaned.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Whee-hee! Wasn't that fun? Sorry it was kinda short. * grins sheepishly * Well, anyway, I just thought I would mention that the Magical Alarm Socks are MINE * clutches them protectively * No touchies! If you wanna use them, you are certifiably insane, but I don't mind as long as you tell people that they belong to Rianna. (that's me.) Well, see you in the next chapter! 


	7. The Hallway: First Years are Really Cree...

...............Chapter.uh.7?................  
  
Everything belongs to J.K Rowling. Unless it doesn't.  
  
Le start:  
  
They sat there for a full five minutes, Draco smiling like an idiot and Rily trying to think up a legitimate excuse as to why she had been knocked out by an apparently inanimate object. Because suits of armor didn't just decide to get up and move.  
  
Wait, yes they did. This was Hogwarts, after all. But that isn't the point. The point was, neither of them moved for five minutes, until a very lost group of first-years stumbled into the plot.  
  
"Er." Rily said, and the first years blinked. She coughed nervously, and then glanced around the halls, unsure as of what to say, because the people who had previously been holding up notecards were on a coffee break.  
  
"Lovely weather we're having, wouldn't you say?" Her voice came out as barely a squeak. Rily had never been very good at improvisation. The first years blinked again, all in unison. It was a bit creepy, really, as if first years were some sort of cult. Even Draco started to look a bit nervous. The silence stretched on, Draco searching desperately for an exit among the unlocked doors and deserted hallways, Rily shuffling in an uncomfortable manner, and the first years blinking, all as one.  
  
"Where is the Charms classroom?" The unnerving group finally asked, and Rily, in a brilliant display of wits, pointed to the solid wall directly across the hall from the empty Charms room. As one, the group turned to face the wall, assuming it was one of the many trick walls in the enchanted castle. It wasn't, but by the time they noticed, the two third- years were far out of sight.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Rily had lost Draco somewhere in the many twists and turns of the castle, but she didn't care. She arrived at the bookshelf-door of her common room, gasped out the password ("What's this bookshelf doing here?"), and stumbled inside.  
  
"What * took * you so long?" Mae asked, looking up from the rather thick book she had been swatting flies with. Her frog, whose name the author has long forgotten, looked rather disappointed at the fact that his dinner was currently smeared all over a book that had been who-knows-where in the last few days.  
  
"Ran into some first years," Rily explained, "Those things are creepy." This elicited a nod from almost everyone present, and then Rily collapsed in one of the very floofy chairs that littered the common room floor.  
She sighed in pleasure as she sank a full six inches into the recliner, recently spelled so that it would do just that, and glanced around the common room. Her eyes instantly alighted onto a suspicious pair of second-years who were whispering in suspicious second-years voices about suspicious second-year things. So, doing what anyone in her situation would do, Rily gave them their privacy and ignored them.  
  
From her left there was a small 'mew', and then a silken-grey something popped itself into her lap.  
"'lo Slinky." She greeted the small cat, who stared at her with enormous orange eyes and mewed again in a questioning manner.  
  
"Guess who I ran into in the hallway?" She asked the small creature, who made a rather snarky remark and twitched his tail. "No," Rily retorted, glaring at her cat, "Suits of armor * don't * count. It was Draco Malfoy." At the Slinky made an uncommitted noise and began to wash himself. ".Yeah, I suppose he is." Rily admitted, and settled back into the chair to watch Mae and an extremely nervous fourth-year (though, judging by the malicious look on Mae's face, it was not for nothing) begin a game of Wizard's Chess. But she still couldn't help but feel that Draco was nicer than he seemed, despite her cat's disapproval of him.  
  
~.........Meanwhile, back at the Batcave..........~  
  
The Grounds was bathed in shadow and moonlight that shifted and flickered, painting random patterns of leaves and darkness on the grass. It was silent but for the eerie whisper of wind as it wove softly through the branches of the now-dormant willow tree, and the gentile lap of water on sand as something far beneath the surface of the lake moved restlessly in the night.  
  
Farther from the great stone bastion, the forest grew, wild and untamed and dark even in daylight. Things there were not so peaceful, for within that labyrinth of trees and stone lurked things born of nightmares, and nightmares themselves. Tiny lights bobbed in the distance, fey and alluring. But if you drew near you would hear the tiny twinkling of laughter and mischief, and the lights would go out, and reappear far from where you were now alone and lost, to draw some other unlucky traveler from his path.  
  
But within those shadows there were also the lights of wisdom and innocence, for star-gazers slept in these woods, and the silken-swift silver of fantasies and dreams. Also, at this moment, there was something unusual, something neither nightmare nor daydream; it something mysterious and foreboding and no small part symbolic. Among the shadows and moonlight and small will-'o-wisps lurked a solid figure as black as the ocean at nightfall, with eyes like golden orbs in the darkness.  
  
It lurked just beyond where light fell, dancing on the edge of shadow, and the silence was broken by a heart-wrenching howl, more human than animal, laced with the pain and fury of a sea-storm. Then it was gone, flowing swiftly across the moon-shine dappled grounds towards the castle.  
  
And that's all for anything remotely resembling a plot folks. Just proof that this is indeed taking place in third year. I just felt like being serious for a change. Sorry I've taken so long with this updating thing, I just don't know where this is going. If anyone can give me something stupid to dwell on for a few chapters before the end (which I have a plan for) I will be most grateful. I know this is short, so I will try to update faster, though I can't promise anything. 


End file.
